The Technicalities of Tomorrow (Spinoff of Technical Difficulties)
by Little-Red-2404
Summary: (You must read the prologue to Technical Delays first!) Leah Raymond is no longer Techna. However, after a chance encounter with a stranger who calls himself Rip Hunter, Techna appears to find herself on a whole new journey with a very different team.
1. Chapter 1

**Introduction: A New Start**

 ***Three Months After "Before the Fall"**

"There's so many boxes," I sighed, taking a seat on the floor considering all my furniture had already been moved into my new apartment. The apartment was almost bare now; I had taken down all the pictures and with bright lights reflecting off the empty walls, everything looked new as if I hadn't lived there for the past decade.

"You have so much stuff," Caitlin breathlessly giggled, taking a seat next to me. She pushed her hair back out of her face. "Is all this stuff going to fit in your new apartment?"

I nodded, "It's big. I promise." She hadn't seen it yet, no one had except me. It was brand new and all mine, and right smack dab in the middle of Star City.

"And you found yourself a counselor there, right?"

I nodded, keeping silent this time. Going to counseling wasn't something I enjoyed, but I knew I needed it. Ever since the singularity explosion, I had a growing fear that I'd lash out with my powers again. Last time, I severely injured Cisco and I in a car accident because I had missed Ronnie so much, and I wasn't looking forward to doing something like that ever again. Unfortunately, Cisco didn't agree with this idea. I understood where he was coming from; he was hoping that he could help me heal and feel okay again, he didn't want to be "second best" to people who didn't even know me. I couldn't get him to understand that I didn't want to hurt him, that I was dangerous: he kept telling me it was going to be okay, but I was scared because there was no way to know for sure.

So, he walked out. And I let him, knowing I'd never be able to get him to understand.

But after three months of sulking around in the same apartment and the same city, I decided I needed a change. I needed a new apartment in a new city.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" She asked in a quiet voice.

"Sure, I will." She gave me a look then and I sighed. "Caitlin, I'll be fine. And I have Oliver and the others there in case I need it."

She sighed, "Yeah? And what about Techna?"

A silence hung in the air after I molded over the question she was asking. It wasn't " _are you going to keep being Techna?"_ it was _"what happened to her? Where did she go?"_

I shook my head, "Central City will be alright without her. Besides, they still have Flash." She nodded although I could tell she didn't fully agree. So I asked a question I had been meaning to find the answer to since Team Flash broke up, "Have you heard from him? Barry?"

The smile on her face was obviously forced, "No. He hasn't spoken to any of us."

"He will," I assured her. "He just needs time. Everyone does."

"And you?"

I gave her my own forced smile, "My time is up. Time for me to move on. Hence why I'm going to go find something new in Star City." I jumped up from the floor and picked up the nearest box. "Well, come on. My new apartment isn't going to furnish itself!"

 ***Six Months after "Before the Fall"***

My new apartment is covered in large lamps and ceiling lights. The only time I've used my powers in the past six months is to turn them off and on without having to touch the light switch. Without the threat of metahumans every two seconds, I only use my powers for the little things. The old team would laugh at my usage of something so unique… Or they would scold me. I'm unsure.

I've only kept in touch with Caitlin and Stein recently. Due to some unexpected issues, Stein found someone new to fuse with; his name is Jax Jefferson and Stein says he's still warming up to him. I haven't met him yet… I'm not sure how I feel about it… Caitlin works with Team Flash again as they stop the metahumans of Central City. It's nice to know they are okay.

However, when I got a text from Barry, I found myself in my car, driving back to Central City to see the team.

 **Barry: hi, Leah. Hope you don't mind, Cait gave me your new number. My dad is getting out of prison this afternoon! Long story, but I finally got proof that he is innocent. I know its short notice, but want to come to his "Welcome Back" party? We'd all love to see you there.**

To my surprise, I didn't hesitate to respond immediately.

 **Leah: Congratulations, Barry. Where's the party at?**

I don't know what made me think it was a good idea. Just drop everything and head over to a friend's who I haven't seen or heard from in six months. Go back to the world I had left behind and all the memories that lie within it.

As I passed the familiar buildings, and the reconstruction of the city, the pit in my stomach grew larger and larger. I almost expected myself to hit the brakes as hard as my heart was slamming against my chest. But I kept driving until I was finally at the curb of Joe's house.

Barry has briefly explained that the party was going to be held at Joe West's house and the party was to start at two o'clock. As I sat in the car and looked up at my destination, it was already two-thirty. _I'm allowed to be a little late, right? I mean, I'm coming from a whole other city!_

I could feel my palms sweating and I was really glad I had worn extra deodorant. As I exited the car, I took a few deep breaths in an attempt to relax a little, but failed.

 _Maybe I shouldn't have come… I didn't even bring anything! Don't people usually bring food with them to a party like this? Was I supposed to bring something with me?!  
_ I barely made it to the driveway, however, when a voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Leah Raymond?"

I turned at the sound of my name to come face to face with a man in a long, brown trench coat. His eyes were serious yet bright, and the contrast was honestly sort of frightening. As soon as it registered that this stranger had said my name, I took a step back.

"D-do I know you?" I asked, hating how timid my voice sounded.

He shook his head with a bit of a dry chuckle. "No, not yet. But you will." He held up a device in his hand, something rectangular and silver. "I need your help," he explained before pressing the device's button. There was a flash of white light and then everything went black.

I woke up with a slight dizziness in my head. The ground was cold and hard as I propped up on my elbows and blinked until the world stopped spinning.

"Raymond?" Someone coughed beside me.

"Who, me?" Another more innocent voice asked.

"No, not you. Her." I turned my head to the right to see a man dress in a large, blue coat with ice blue eyes to match. Everything about this man gave off a cold vibe. When our eyes met, he gave me a knowing smirk, "Leah Raymond."

Something about the way he was looking right through me sent a cold shock down my spine. "Do I know you?"

"No." He curtly replied before standing up. "But I know you- well, of you. And your crew. Barry and them?"

Feeling the ice settle in my back, I stood up on shaky legs, "I don't know what you're going on about…"

His eyes narrowed when his smile grew wider. "Don't worry, I've kept his little secret for a while now."

"What secret?" A broader man with large shoulders… Well, large EVERYTHING took his position next to the colder man.

"The name is Leonard Snart." The man with icicles for eyes announced, ignoring the other man's question. "This here is my partner in crime, Mick… Though, I believe your boy toy likes to call us Captain Cold and Heatwave." He shrugged his shoulders shortly, not noticing my heart drop at the mention of Cisco. "It's kind of grown on me if I'm to be honest."

"Yeah…" I managed to speak through the lump in my throat. "He does that sometimes."

"Techna, right?" He then asked, taking me by surprise before shrugging his shoulders again, "Your little Flash and I… We cooperated with each other once. In the meantime, I learned a thing or two about you guys."

"Well," I quickly straightened out my jacket as I noticed his buddy look me up and down. "If you must know, I don't go by that anymore."

"Leah?"

I sighed, tired of hearing my name so many times today, until I turned to see who it was. "Professor?!" I was quick to step forward and hug the man. Either I had gotten taller (which is unlikely) or he had shrunk slightly as my forehead now reached the top of his shoulder.

"What are we doing here?" He asked after giving me a hug in return.

"I'm glad you asked," the voice from before had spoken up. We all turned to see the man in the brown trench coat standing there with his hands in his pockets and a pleased look on his face. "You're all here to help me."

"Why would we do that?" The man named Mick asked, crossing his arms over his large chest. I couldn't help but wonder how quickly he could snap someone with them.

"Because if you don't, in the future, your world will look like this." He pulls out yet another rectangular shape, black in color this time, and presses the button. The scene around his changes were sirens are going off down every other block and buildings are lit on fire so intense that the firefighters can't keep up with it. And for the firefighters who can keep up with it, they're on the streets, risking their lives against some highly trained fighters and guns.

When the scene goes back to the normal view of skyscrapers that we can see on top of the roof we were standing on, he speaks up again. "I could've picked any time and place, seeing as I'm a Time Master. But I picked here and I picked you nine… I hope you won't let me- I hope you won't let the whole world down."

Another girl with long blonde hair crosses her arms over her chest as well. "What do you need us to do?"

"Defeat Vandal Savage."

"Vandal Savage? That's impossible." The darker skinned girl with curly hair states.

The man standing beside her nods. "If you're really from the future, he should be dead. We killed him with the help of some friends."

"Unless he is struck down by one of you two, he can be reborn from nothing but a single cell."

"And we're somehow supposed to kill him?" A darker haired guy asked. I think I've seen pictures of him in Oliver's headquarters.

"I picked you nine for a reason." The man assures us. "Where I'm from- in the future- the nine of you are legends."

The term "legends" sends goosebumps spiking up my arms and legs.

"Not to kill the mood, but legends being the term people use when someone is dead?" Professor Stein pointed out.

"Uh, yeah, no. That's a deal breaker for me." The younger man next to Stein sighs. He heads for the nearby exit. "I'm out."

"Please…" Trench Coat sighs and runs a hand over his face. "The world is in grave danger."

"Sounds like my life is in grave danger." The young guy snaps before heading out the door.

"We don't even know your name." The darker girl reminded him.

"Rip Hunter… And again, like I mentioned before, I need your guy's help."

Little did I know that I was not going back to my old team, but I was about to become a member of an entirely different one.


	2. A Leap of Faith

**Chapter 1: Leap of Faith**

To be honest, I was disappointed (and surprised) to see that Felicity was just as lost for words as I was when I told her what had happen to me. Her mouth opened and closed several times until I sighed, realizing she wasn't going to be much help in my decision.

She sighed right after me, "I'm sorry… I'm not sure what to say, Leah… It's odd, don't you think?" She strode over to the other side of the room where I had been taking my frustration out on a punching bag.

I rubbed my sore knuckles as I followed her and watched her take a seat. "I know it is, but… What if he is right? Rip Hunter. What if I'm meant to do this? I could be a… legend! I could be anything rather than just a stick in the mud."

Her eyebrows furrowed inward. "You don't even know this man, Leah. And suddenly he shows up and says you can save the world?"

"The whole future!" I reminded her.

"It just seems odd," she sighed, biting at her bottom lip in deep wonder. "I mean, don't you have questions?"

"Of course I do. But they can only be asked if I follow him, yeah?"

"Okay." She took a deep breath before turning her office chair to face the large computer that she began typing away on.

"Wait… Okay? That's it?" I didn't finish until she turned back to look at me with a raised eyebrow, "Aren't you going to tell me this is dangerous? That this is a crazy idea and I should be more careful?"

"You already know that." She reminded me.

I sighed, before taking a seat next to her, "Then why do I want to go so bad?"

Her smile widen as she looked over at me, "Because you heroes never know how to stay away from the danger."

I paced back and forth in my apartment, running my hands through my hair to try and untangle the knots in my mind. My phone constantly blew up with text messages from my old team.

 **Caitlin: Are you okay? We assumed you were coming to the party yesterday, did something happen?**

 **Barry: hey, you've got us all worried. Do I need to flash over? Need help?**

 **Iris: hey, can you text me back when you get this? Just checking in on you.**

I even missed two calls from Joe. The one that took me most by surprise was the unknown number that lit up my screen.

 **Unknown Number: Hi. Just checking in. You've got the whole team worried… Are you okay?**

Of course, I knew who that number belonged to, and it was the top reason why I hadn't responded to any of the messages. It was the very last one I got, and I was just about to reply to Caitlin before I read it.

I had almost forgot that I deleted his number. I had almost forgot that I needed to. We weren't really talking anymore, anyways. So, after reading Cisco's message, I pulled up another number and sent the message:

 **Leah: Are you going with Rip Hunter?**

I had taught him how to text a few months ago, thankfully. It was much easier than waiting for him to pick up his phone calls, because he was never really that good at it, considering he use to forget to carry his phone around with him. But now, it only took him a minute to text me back.

 **Professor Martin Stein: Yes.**

I felt my heart racing as I peered down at the three letter word he sent me. He was going and he knew there was no turning back.

I only glanced away from the phone for a second to peer at the apartment around me. It was covered in many things; books, movies, magazines, blankets- I love having many, many blankets- but it still felt empty. I was standing there in the middle of my hard-wood floor, alone. No one around me. No pets (though I had been seriously debating on getting one) and no team.

And that wasn't okay with me.

 **Leah: could you come pick me up? I want to go to.**

 **Professor Martin Stein: Gladly. I've got a thing I need to work out first, but I'll arrive shortly. Be ready, Miss Raymond.**


	3. A Ride on the WaveRider

**Chapter 2: A Ride on the WaveRider**

I didn't stop to ask why Jax was passed out in the passenger seat of Professor Stein's car. To be honest, I envied him. Because while he slept soundlessly, I sat in the backseat, constantly rubbing my sweaty hands against my jeans and staring out the window, anxiously wondering what we were getting ourselves into.

This could easily be some sort of trap to get rid of us. Though, why would anyone want to get rid of some retired "superhero" like me? I don't know. But that was one of the many things that ran through my head during what felt like the longest car ride of my life. Next to me, sitting in the middle seat, was an old white box that I hadn't touched in months. I'm surprised it even made it to the new apartment with me. Inside the box was what remained of Techna after I locked her away from Central City.

 _What am I doing?_ I wondered as we strolled along the street. Unfortunately, the professor was an awfully slow driver. _Bringing back Techna? After all this time? Why? Because a man in a trench-coat told me it was my destiny?_

I didn't have much time to talk myself out of it, however. By time I decided the whole ordeal was probably a bad idea, Professor Stein was already parking his silver convertible into an empty parking lot by the river. I watched him climb out before I found the proper feeling in my feet to do the same thing. The wind wiping the water came up to give us a chilly bite and I tugged my jacket just slightly tighter against my body. I'll admit, I panicked just a tad as the professor looked around at our empty surroundings.

"Is this not it?" He wondered out loud before observing the small piece of paper in his hands; Rip Hunter had given him directions before we all parted ways.

"Professor." We both were startled by another voice until we turned around to see whom it was. Leonard Snart, the man I had met the night before, was strolling up to us with the rest of them following him as if they were his own little pose. "Looks like you two made it."

His much larger partner tilted his head in confusion as he peered over at Jax's unconscious form, "What'd you do to him?"

"I-I didn't do anything." The professor stuttered. "H-he must have had something that didn't quite agree with him."

"Right…" Mick agreed with his deep-set voice and a nod of his head; however, by the odd gleam in his eyes, I knew he didn't believe a word of it.

"So, did he lie?" Sara asked, looking around us.

"I did not, Miss Lance." We all turned at once to the man in the trench-coat as he walked up to us, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

"Where did you just come from?" Ray chuckled, asking the question we were all wondering.

Rip smiled almost mischievously, "Well, imagine how suspicious people would be if I just casually parked my time ship right in the middle of Star City?" He held up a black box, not much larger than his hand, and pressed one of the small buttons on it.

A couple of the others gasped along with me as the invisibility lifted from the larger mechanical ship. It was almost as wide as a cruise ship and the silver glittered in the sunlight as it stood much, much taller than the rest of us.

"Welcome to the WaveRider." Rip grinned, before walking backwards towards the ship. "Follow me."

Most of us hesitated, but I sighed seeing as Professor Stein was not one of them. He practically followed Rip with a spring in his step. I stepped forward and then stopped to remember something important and realize my dilemma. I did the next thing without even thinking.

I reached forward and tapped his large shoulder before he could walk any further from me. I clenched my fist to keep from instinctively flinching as he turned around and towered over me. He looked down at me with that confused expression once more.

"S-sorry…" I cursed myself on the inside as my voice stuttered just slightly. Mick wasn't scary to say the least, just… Intimidating. I glanced back at Jax who was still slumped in the passenger seat. "Could you perhaps…. I-I can't carry him… At least not on my own…"

Mick glanced over my head before meeting my eyes again. I was prepared for him to roll his large, brown eyes and walk away, but he shrugged his broad shoulders and headed for the silver car. I watched him pull Jax out of the convertible and sling him over his shoulder as if Jax only weighted a feather. It was impressive.

As he began walking passed me, I remembered to add a quick, "Thanks!"

He stopped for a second and turned slightly to look at me once more. His eyes raked themselves over my face as if he was looking for something and then his eyes narrowed as if he didn't find what he was looking for. I shifted slightly under his gaze, but then watched in surprise as he dropped his fierce gaze to glance at the floor. He shrugged once more before he continued to walk.

 _Was that a shy response?_ I almost giggled out loud at my new discovery. _So, the large man has a soft side. I'll keep that in mind._

My feet followed his large footsteps into the ship and stopped once I entered through the door. The humming of the ship was prominent but not annoying, almost as if it was simply just breathing. All the halls leading to the main area were lit with bright, blue and white lights that brought the whole thing more to life. The main room contained a single table in the middle that shone bright with many screens, and a few seats surrounded it, other than the driver seat that sat in the very front.

We only had a few seconds before Rip was rushing us to sit down and strap in. I reached over and pulled Jax's seatbelt over his unconscious frame just as Mick set him down and then I gripped my own metal seatbelt that I pulled over my head and braced myself.

Rip glanced back at us over his shoulder before grinning once more. I was beginning to believe that grin was going to be the death of me as the Waverider hovered off the ground.

"Hold on tight."

And then we took off.


	4. For Family

**Chapter 3: For Family**

The ride started out bumpy and my queasy stomach was hoping it'd smooth out, but it never did. Halfway in between our journey through the time lapse, I heard a stir next to me and I turned my head to find Jax waking up. He blinked a few times before looking around him. Then he jumped and aimed to pull at his seatbelt.

"Wait! Don't remove that!" I warned him, reaching over and pulling his hand off his seatbelt.

"What?!" He squealed, looking around at all of us as we watched him. "Where am I? What am I doing him?"

"So, that was why he was knocked out." Snart smirked, looking over at the professor.

Mick laughed, "You roofied him."

I buried my face in my hands, feeling suddenly embarrassed. Of course, that was why Jax slept through the whole car ride. And I had simply let it pass as if I didn't realize anything was wrong. I continued to feel bad as Jax demanded to get off the ship.

"I didn't want you to miss this!" Professor Stein explained.

"You KIDNAPPED me!" Jax corrected him, slumping into his seat.

Suddenly, things went blurry and I had this odd sensation of being sucked up into a tiny spot, before it quickly went away. I heard someone gasp next to me just as everything went black; but I've passed out before and I knew now that I hadn't just done that. I could still hear and feel everything,

"I can't see…" I announced as everyone began moving around.

"Temporary blindness. Just a small side effect." Rip assured me as I heard him walk closer. I heard someone gag and then a nasty _splash_ sound. "Oh, and nausea. And-." I heard a _thump_ and Rip sighed. "And vertigo, too."

The blackness slowly ebbed away and I found Rip bent down in front of me, waving his hand in front of my face. "Better?" He asked.

I blinked a few times against the bright lights. "Yeah… Where are we?"

We all jumped at the sound of another woman's voice, "October 17, 1975."

We all tossed our heads from one side to another, trying to find the source of the voice when Sara spoke up, "What was that?"

"Gideon." Rip answered.

Professor's eyes went so wide, I was waiting for his eyeballs to fall out of their sockets. "You mean, the ship speaks? Astonishing."

"You think everything is astonishing," Jax pointed out, rolling his eyes and folding his arms over his chest.

"What are we doing here?" Kendra asked as Carter helped her out of her chair.

Rip turned to us, "With the help of Gideon, I found someone who may be helpful in helping us locate Vandal Savage's location."

"Who?"

"Aldus Boardman. But we must be quick."

"How come?" Carter asked him.

Rip hesitated then, avoiding eye contact from all of us. "Um… He's meant to die in a few hours."

Professor Stein nodded as if it was the simplest thing to understand. "We visit him now, just a few moments before his death so it has no major effect to the timeline. Genius!" Jax rolled his eyes once more and I couldn't help but wonder how they've been working together all this time if they couldn't even stand talking next to each other.

"Exactly," Rip nodded. "Now, Kendra, Carter, Professor, Jax, and Ray are to come with me. The rest of you wait here until our return."

"Wait, stay here?" Sara repeated. "I thought we were a team?"

"Yes, but right now, I'm not in need of your guys'… talents."

"What he means to say is he doesn't need anyone maimed or killed." Leonard spoke up.

"Precisely." Rip nodded, headed for the door. "We'll be back."

As they left, Jax stood his ground and Stein turned to him, confused. "Aren't you coming with us?"

"I think I'll stay with these guys."

"With them?"

"I'll watch over him, Professor." I assured him. He still hesitated a little, glancing over at Jax, probably hoping he'll change his mind, before he turned on his heel and left.

"I'm not a kid." Jax grumbled. "I don't need you to watch over me."

I shrugged. "I know. But if I hadn't said that, the professor would've never left without you. Believe me, I've known the man for a while."

"So… What do we do now?" Sara asked.

"T.v." Mick mumbled, heading over to the big screen on the opposite side of the room.

I shrugged again, "I guess we just wait…"

However, several minutes of waiting and we were all restless and bored. Leonard was sulking in the Captain's seat while Sara paced the room, and Jax was watching Mick flip through multiple television channels.

"Why are they only playing re-runs?" Mick sighed.

I opened my mouth to explain, but Jax grabbed my wrist and frantically shook his head. "Don't even bother, Leah."

"How about we go into town and have a little fun in the 70's?" Sara suggested.

Leonard turned in his seat with a wicked grin, "I like that idea."

"Great!" Sara smiled, heading out of the room. "I have the perfect outfit."

"But… Rip told us to stay put." I pointed out.

Leonard shrugs, "Then you can sit here with the kid."

"Wait," Jax stood up from his seat, "Why can't I go?"

"Because I said so." Leonard sneered.

"Why do I have to babysit?" I asked.

"Because you're the boring one," Mick responded bluntly as he turned off the t.v. "You're the one who doesn't have any fun."

"I have fun!"

"Prove it." Leonard said. "Come with us and have some fun."

I looked at him with wide eyes as he gave me a once over. I fidgeted under his stare, wondering why his calm demeanor was so agitating to me. I clenched my fist, telling myself I didn't have to go and impress him or any of them.

But instead, I said, "Alright. I'll go."

I disappeared into a spare room for a second with the white box I had brought with me. I set it down on a nearby table and I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as I removed the lid. Inside was the familiar green and black suit that I had hid in the closet after ridding myself of the name, Techna. I took out the costume and held it up at eye level. Part of me was excited to put the suit on once more, and the other part of me wanted to burn it along with the life I had left behind me. I thought about the cell phone in my pants pocket and how I never made it to the party Barry invited me to. I never texted them and told them what happened, I just never showed up.

 _I wonder if they even noticed._

I pulled my pants up over my hips and zippened them up. I stuffed the face mask in my pocket; I didn't need that right now. But Sara was wearing her suit to the bar, so I figured I would to. Doesn't exactly match the 70's but why not?

I glanced at my reflection in a floor length mirror. The suit hugged me in a few new places than back when I first got it, and I had to pull up the shirt a little to avoid showing off more than I wanted.

 _"_ _I'm glad I made the suit this way. It SUITS you."_

I closed my eyes, hearing his laugh echo in my mind. It was time to move on.

The nearest bar was within walking distance and as soon as we walked in through the wooden door, Mick headed straight for the bar. The whole place smelled like booze and smoke, and was covered in really loud chatter. I stuck close to Sara and Leonard out of habit.

"Relax, Leah." Leonard said without even having to look at me.

"Easy for you to say." I sighed, crossing my arms over my middle. "You're use to this sort of atmosphere."

"It's not so bad." Sara shrugged, joining Mick at the bar.

"I thought you said you have fun," Leonard turned his head to smile at me, challengingly.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Well, looks like my definition of fun and yours is slightly different. Sorry to disappoint you."

He continued to smile at me, seeming to want to say something, but not doing so. Soon, Mick and Sara were back at our sides, passing out beers. I took the one Mick handed me and held it close to my body, hoping he didn't notice my shaking hands. Last time I went to anything remotely close to a club was when I went to karaoke night with Team Flash and Ronnie went with us that time.

 _"_ _I don't know, sis. This place isn't so bad."_

I tried not to flinch as he circled me and the other three, taking in the new scene with his bright blue eyes. He turned to smile at me and I felt like someone had punched me in the chest.

 _"_ _I like it. And you're with these three, relax!" Ronnie grinned._

I wanted to roll my eyes. To ask him why he was bothering me at a time like this, but then Mick spoke up, "Anyone want a new song? I bet they have the songs my mom use to put on repeat all day." He took a swig of his beer before heading to the jukebox.

 _Ronnie nodded as he watched Mick walk away. "Mom use to listen to music all the time, remember?"_

I bit down on my lip to keep from speaking. I knew he wasn't really there, I knew no one else could see him. He just loved to haunt me and remind me why I miss him so much. My mind was so evil and against me these days, I could never get a break.

"Wanna dance Leonard?" Sara asked, slowly swaying to the song Mick had chosen.

Leonard smile and shook his head, "No, thanks. I think I'll just watch."

Sara handed him her beer. "Suit yourself," she returned his smirk with one of her own before heading to the dance floor a few feet in front of us, where she moved her feet to the rhythm of the song. Leonard watched her as I stepped back to take a deep breath.

 _"_ _Relax, sis." Ronnie cooed, stepping forward to stand beside me._

I shut my eyes tight and whispered, "It would be so much easier if you weren't in my head…"

"What?" I heard a low voice rumble. I jumped and turned my head to find that I backed up next to Mick who was sitting in a bar stool. "What'd you say?"

"N-nothing…" I sighed, turning away from him.

Suddenly, I heard someone grunt and cry out in pain. I spun around to the dance floor again to see Sara take down a man twice her size. She turned and grinned at all three of us mischievously. "I got this." She assured, holding her hand up to keep our men from jumping forward, though neither of them made an attempt to move. They both just stood there, looking amused.

She spun around and kicked another man in the groin as he jumped forward to defend his friend. After a few punches and kicks, she was surrounded by the dudes' pose. She turned around and simply gave a look that told me she changed her mind and needed help.

I sauntered forward and braced myself as one of the men turned to swing at me. I ducked and then brought my knee up as hard as I could and connected it with the man's rib. He coughed, bending over and giving me the perfect opportunity to flip him over and throw him to the ground. I didn't have time to appreciate his sprawled-out body rolling on the floor before someone grabbed my shoulder roughly. I grabbed his hand and pulled his fingers as far apart as they would go. With a crack, his middle finger and index finger broke, and as he held them close to his abdomen, I stomped hard on his toes, bringing him forward so I could knee him in the face. When he hit the ground, I had time to take a breath and I surprised myself by smiling.

I had missed taking out bad guys more than I thought I did.

Again, someone grabbed me from behind, but this time the man grabbed me by my hair and pulled, hard. I cried out, trying to reach back and elbow him in the gut, but he continued to move, resulting in pulling my hair harder. As I thought hard on what to do over the pain in my scalp, the man let go so quickly, I almost fell backwards. I turned to watch Mick grab the man by the shoulders and sling him into another guy who was running at us.

"Pick on someone your own size!" Mick growled, and I tried so hard not to laugh, because Mick was three times bigger than the guy he just threw. He turned to me with a wide grin, "I love the 70's!"

Within minutes, the four of us had knocked out all the others or scared them off.

But I didn't feel relieved, I actually began to panic instead. Something was really wrong. I felt my heart speed up and I felt like all my nerves were on fire.

"Something is wrong." I managed to breathe out.

"What?" Sara turned to me. "Leah, what's wrong?"

"We need to get back to the ship." I told her, quickly sauntering out the front door.

I started heading to the left once I was out the door and I heard Leonard call out, "The ship is the other way."

"I'm finding a quicker way back." I informed them, stopping next to a red Chevrolet Caprice and eyeing its condition.

Mick chuckled, "Do you even know how to break into a car?"

This time, I got to smirk at the three of them as I pointed out, "I don't have to break in."

Sara's mouth popped open in surprise when the doors unlocked without me touching them, and Mick's eyes widen in shock when the engine kicked on before I even climbed into the front seat. I rolled the window down with my mind and peered out at their statues.

"Are you three coming or not?" I asked.

"I am." Mick nodded, jumping into the passenger seat.

"You don't have to ask me twice." Sara giggled before sliding in the backseat with Leonard.

I leaned back in my seat and brought my legs up to curl up on the seat and get comfortable.

"You know… Most people drive with their hands on the steering wheel." Mick said, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as I got myself comfy and turned to smile at him.

"Mick," I shook my head, trying not to giggle. "I haven't drove a car normally in almost four years."

"Then how do you drive a car?" Sara asked, leaning forward to poke her head in between the two front seats.

I smiled, shifting the gear to drive while I folded my hands in my lap. "Fasten your seatbelts and watch." The car lunged forward and I heard all four of them gasp as I sped forward without touching the wheel or the foot pedals.

As we got closer and closer to our destination, I got even more nervous. It wasn't like I could feel that the ship was in danger, but something was. Somehow, I knew SOMEONE was in danger. When we were only a few feet away, we watched the area surrounding the ship light up in some sort of battle. I stopped the car to see a large figure shooting over to the right of the ship where Rip and the others were.

"Shit." Sara hissed.

"Who is that?" Mick asked.

I watched Leonard's eyes narrow as we watched the battle going poorly for our team. "New friend, it looks like."

"What do we do?" Sara asked.

"Hold on." I told them, shifting the gear to drive once more before flooring it. I smacked the hood of the car right into the heavily armored man who hit the window, cracking it slightly before rolling off the front of the Chevrolet.

Sara jumped out of the car first, smiling at the others who were gawking at us. "We leave for a few minutes to have fun and look what you guys got yourself into."

"Everyone get to the ship!" Rip ordered, ignoring Sara's comment.

I quickly followed the others to the ship as the armored man jumped up and began shooting at us again. I followed right behind Kendra and Carter as they carried some injured man into the ship with them. Behind me, Leonard and Mick were shooting their cold and heat guns until the door fully closed, blocking us from the laser gun. Once we were in the ship, I heard Rip call out for us to hold on, and I grabbed onto the nearest pipe hanging on the wall as the ship took off, away from the enemy.

Once everything settled down and we caught our breath, we all made way to the center room. "What was that?" I asked, still feeling out of breath.

"Chronos." Rip shortly answered. He sighed, heading to a hole in the WaveRider with a bag of tools and began on fiddling with some wires on the inside. "This is just great. We brought a being from the past onto the WaveRider, and not just ANY being, but our two lovely hawks' son, to be exact! We've barely begun and this is already a huge mistake."

I watched as Kendra strutted up to Captain Rip Hunter then, turned him around by the shoulder, and swung a nice jab to the right of his jaw. He stumbled back to lean against the wall as he held onto his face.

"My son is dying because of that thing that attacked us!" She growled, holding him by the collar of his trench coat. "Now you better start giving us answers. Who is exactly was that and why did he attack us?!"

"Better speak fast," Leonard chuckled. "Seems the lady isn't in the mood to wait."

"Neither am I." Carter hissed, folding his arms across his chest. "So, speak."

"His name is Chronos." Rip repeated. "And… He works for the time masters…"

Sara stepped forward then, also looking very unpleased. "I thought you said YOU were a time master."

"I mean… Time is an odd loop. And technically I was at one point a-." Sara quickly gave him a strong upper cut, almost knocking him on his ass. "Will you guys PLEASE stop hitting me?"

"Then speak the truth!"

"I say we kill him." Mick growled.

"Ditto with the arsonist." Professor Stein spoke up, taking me by surprise.

"Yeah, you don't seem like the type to want to end Vandal Savage just because he's tortured our future." Ray pointed out. "So, what has Vandal Savage done to you?"

Rip went a little pale in the face, visibly swallowing hard before looking down at his boots. "The time masters disagree with marriage. Urge us not to conceive either. The less we hold onto, the less of a threat we could be if captured by our enemies, with nothing they could use against us, but… I fell in love. And we had a son… Jonas…"

I couldn't bear to hear him speak over his suffering, so I summarized it for him, "Vandal killed your family."

He nodded. "Yes. And countless others. But the time masters turned a blind eye… That's why I no longer work with them."

"And the part where you said we are legends?" Ray spoke up. "Was that a lie too?"

Rip's eyes fell to the floor once more as he reluctantly nodded. "I choose the nine of you because a hundred years from now, your lives do little to the timeline." That felt like a huge slap to what little I had left of my self-esteem.

"So, we're opposites of legends." Jax mumbled.

"We're nobodies." I added.

"But you have the potential to do good!" Rip explained. "That's why you were chosen!" Rip shook his head. "I just wanted to save my family."

Everyone went quiet then, and I could almost see the gears in everyone's head moving. I decided to speak up then, softly and as calmly as I could; although, I was a little angered myself. "I think we all just need time to think on our options."

Rip nodded, "Of course… We won't be moving until Aldus is stabilized. He won't make it through a time jump."

At the mention of her son, Kendra took off towards the medical center with Carter at her heels. Jax was the next to leave, his poor shoulders slumped in defeat and Professor Stein and my eyes met before he took off after his partner. Ray, Sara, Mick, and Leonard all left together until it was just Rip and I left in the room.

Rip sighed, "If you're looking to continue to yell at me-."

"I'm not." I quickly assured him. "Don't worry, I already made up my mind. I'll just… Wait until the others are ready." With a nod of my head, I turned and left the room.

To my surprise, it was Leonard and Mick who came to me as I sat patiently in the kitchen. Leonard took a seat next to me, leaning back in the chair and propping his feet up on the table while Mick went straight for the fridge to get a beer.

"So, you've already made up your mind, it seems." Leonard stated after Mick took a seat at the counter across from us.

"Of course," I told him, nursing my own beer and trying to ignore Ronnie as he stood in the corner of the room. "I may not agree with how he went about things, but I fully understand why Rip did it…" I made the move to look Ronnie in the eyes, pretending to look out at nothing, before stating, "I would've done the same thing."

"You would?" Mick asked after a few seconds of silence.

"You guys got family?" I asked them, ignoring Mick's question for the time being.

Mick glanced at Leonard who hesitated before telling me, "A sister."

"Younger?"

"How'd you know?"

"You got protective when you mentioned her." I pointed out before taking a large gulp of my drink.

"So, what?" Mick asked, probably wondering where this conversation was going.

I stared back at Ronnie as I balanced the beer bottle on my knee. I wanted so bad to yell at him, to ask him why he always had to be around, and why he couldn't just leave me alone. And for only a second, I thought about telling the two men about Ronnie. I could've told them he blew up right before my eyes after spending almost every day with me since we were born. If Leonard has a sister, he might understand, right?

But I sighed, sipping my beer again and looking away from the invisible figure in the room as I said, "You'd do the same for your sister, wouldn't you?"

Leonard stopped as if he was thinking about it, before nodding his head. Then he leaned forward as if he was intrigued and asked, "So, you have a sibling?"

I shook my head. "Not anymore."

They both took that heavier than I thought, because they went as silent as one can be. Leonard leaned back in his seat once more, obviously trying not to frown and Mick stared down at his beer as if he was disappointed with it. I was starting to think, maybe he was. Maybe he hadn't heard what I said and was more focused on the disgusting liquid I was also downing, when he spoke up.

"What happened?"

But I just shook my head again. "Uh-uh. Maybe another night. I'm not drunk enough for this conversation." That's when I got out of my seat, I smacked my bottle onto the table and faked a smile, "Ready to go back to Rip? Tell him we don't appreciate what he did but that we're willing to continue with the mission anyways?"

"How do you know that's what we chose to do?" Leonard asked.

I walked hallway to the door, my eyes never leaving Ronnie's as he watched me. When I stopped walking, Ronnie's smile widens and he nodded his head in approval. Then in a blink of my eye, he disappeared, no longer standing there. I ended up smiling too, matching that of Ronnie's before I turned to the other two men.

"Why else would you have come to me? You were checking on me to see what I decided too, right?" Neither of them spoke up, they just glanced at each other, almost looking like two kids who got caught in their little scheme. I just giggled and shook my head. "I appreciate it. Now, come on."

And then I walked out the door with Captain Cold and HeatWave not far behind me.


	5. A Shocking Turn of Events

**Chapter 4: A Shocking Turn of Events**

Two hours, 3 minutes, and 45 seconds- and counting.

The only person I had talked to in two hours, three minutes and forty-five seconds was Gideon, the ships artificial intelligence, who asked me a few times if I wanted to join Sara and Stein in the kitchen for food, or if I needed any help from Rip, in which I politely declined.

I was alone in one of the spare rooms of the ship which I had slowly started to turn into a work space. Two hours, three minutes, and 45 seconds was how long I had been working. My hands were at work as I tried my best to feel useful. But the emptier I felt in my veins, the more I began to panic. I was working hard with a hammer when I accidentally pounded it against my thumb.

"Ow!" I squealed, popping my thumb into my mouth, hoping it'd take away the throbbing.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." I heard a voice say and I turned around to be welcomed with Ray's presence as he stepped into the room. "What's going on here?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "Just working." I told him as I turned back to my project.

"On what?" He asked me.

"I'm not even sure." I admitted.

"Sounds like you're stress-working."

I dropped the hammer in my hand and looked up at him, feeling slightly agitated that someone was speaking to me while I was trying to work. However, I met Ray once when training with Oliver and he wasn't that bad of a guy… He just knew how to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and say the wrong thing at the wrong moment.

"What?"

"Stress-working," he repeated. "It's what I do when I've got something on my mind, too, so," he pulled up a chair and sat beside me, "What's going on?"

"I'm useless." I flatly stated. "I'm completely useless to the team."

He paused for a second, obviously confused and unsure what to say before attempting at comforting me. "Y-you control electricity, though. There's electricity everywhere here."

"I can't feel it."

"Pardon?"

I rolled my eyes, feeling agitated as I set down the paper I was scribbling on. "I can't feel it! The electricity; I can't feel the WaveRider…"

"Feel… Huh…" I watched him fidget awkwardly under my stare. "That's an odd way of putting it, you know…?"

I forced myself to take a deep breath and relax into my seat. "I didn't understand it much when it first happened, but it's like… Wires. Like my veins are connected to the wires and I can feel the electricity surge through me like it does wires. Or I can take its source from a battery."

His eyes widen and I could have sworn they lit up like Christmas lights. His white teeth practically glittered when his grin widened. "That's kind of cool…"

"But I can't do it on the ship…"

"And that's weird."

He managed to get me to laugh just a little as I rested my head on my hand. "Very weird," I agreed. "Worse off, I started something I don't know how to control before we got on the ship…"

He chuckled, "You make it sound dangerous, like you can shoot electricity out of your eyes or something."

My nerves started up again and my palms felt sweaty. Part of me was glad I couldn't control the electricity in the room, otherwise I could've popped a lightbulb with how nervous I was feeling. I averted my eyes before I mumbled, "Not my eyes. Just my hands…"

"You can shoot electricity out of your hands?" Ray practically squealed in excitement.

"Barely!"

"I don't see the issue here," he told me with a shake of his head. "Wouldn't that make you even more useful on the ship?"

"I told you, I can't feel the ship. Therefore, I can't harness its electricity."

"But you could back at home?" He asked.

I nodded before turning back to the paper, deciding on what I was inventing. "I think it's this futuristic crap… I have no knowledge of it; therefore, neither does my powers."

"Then build a battery."

"What?"

"Build yourself a battery," he explained, scooting a little closer and holding his hand out for the pencil I was holding. When I passed it to him, he began sketching right away. "If you have a battery that you've created, then you know all about it. Therefore, you can use its source of energy to make electricity."

I watched as he drew some difficult looking box with a more detailed interior of wires and such, and I sighed. "What am I supposed to do; hook the battery to my arm and walk around with this box attached to my arm?"

He stopped mid-drawing and frowned. "Good point." He quickly tossed the paper aside and stared down at the next blank one. "Hey, that suit you wore in the 70's, can I see it?"

Confused, I got up and searched for the white box. Once I found it, I pulled my black and green suit out and laid it out on the table. Curiously with his wide Christmas-looking eyes, he reached out and ran his fingers over the fabric in fascination. "This suit is amazing. Where did you get it?"

"Cisco made it." I told him, only hesitating slightly.

"Your boyfriend?" His question felt like a punch to the gut.

I cleared my throat quietly, avoiding his eyes. "EX boyfriend."

His face fell immediately into a guilty expression. "Oh, sorry… Um, well, it's cool. But I was thinking, maybe we add to it? We could add a necklace or some battery source in your boots, or-."

"Gloves?" I suggested.

He grinned. "Exactly." He was back to drawing in a second, adding a battery inside the thin fabric of some black gloves that would look perfect with my suit.

It took several minutes for us to figure out how we could make the gloves themselves into a battery without them being large and lumpy, but once we did, we were both smiling down at the invention we made on paper.

"Do you really think we could pull this off?" I asked hopefully, picking up the paper to observe it closer.

"Sure, if we can find the right tools on this ship." He shrugged.

I couldn't stop smiling. "Thanks, Ray…" My smile faltered only slightly when I told him, "I use to build stuff all the time at STAR Labs, but I never came up with the inventions myself… Ronnie or Cisco usually came up with the inventions and then I'd use the tools to build whatever it was they created in their head…"

He gave me a sympathetic smile, "No problem, Leah… I'm sorry about Cisco."

I shrugged, looking away again. "We were probably better as best friends, anyways."

He nodded, holding back a sigh before adding, "Oh, and I… I never knew your brother, but Felicity told me about him once after visiting you guys… He sounded nice."

I smiled, not because I particularly enjoyed being reminded that he was gone, but because I knew Ray was just trying to be understanding. I nodded just a tad before saying, "He was. A lot nicer than me, too."

He chuckled. "I find that hard to believe."

"Probably because you never met him," I teased.

"True, true…" He cleared his throat again. "I'm sorry if I crossed a line- I mean, we hardly know each other and I've already asked really personal questions, and-."

I laughed, "Ray?"

"Yes?"

"It's okay. I don't mind. A-and if it's any constellation… I-I know about…"

"About?" His eyebrows shot up.

I looked down at my hands in my lap as I quietly said, "Oliver told me about Anna once, on accident…" I regretted bringing it up as soon as his face fell. I sighed, "Look who's bringing up things they shouldn't now."

"I don't mind." He said softly, repeating what I said before.

I smiled before quickly reaching for my tools which was another thing I had stuffed in the white box along with my costume. "I'm going to try and work on these now."

"Need help?"

"Nah, I think I got it." I looked up at him one last time before saying, "But thank you, really."

He patted my shoulder. "Just call for me if you need help with anything. I'm going to go check on the others."

I spent a while working on my hand measurements and which fabric was to work best for the job, and look nice, of course. I wanted them to look discreet, almost like they were just regular gloves, and I wanted them to be strong and durable in case I had to use my hands- I didn't want the battery to explode on me during hand-to-hand combat. Then it took another hour or so to actually work on the thin, wire-like battery and sew it into the gloves. But the finishing product looked decent enough, before I noticed the bickering outside my door.

I was used to hearing Kendra and Carter argue over their past lives by now; somehow being Egyptian people in their past lives and being destined to fall in love with each other means constant bickering over whether or not they are actually in love. Carter seems very convinced they are meant to be, but Kendra seems to disagree. However, this bickering was different.

After listening for a few more seconds, I noticed it was two male voices. Once I realized one of the voices was Professor Stein, I sighed and made my way to the cortex. I was ready to break up a fight between Jax and him, because they tend to argue a lot, but once I got there, they were standing real close and whispering to each other, while another blonde guy stood in the center of the room, looking awestruck and confused.

As he turned in a circle, taking the whole place in, his eyes stood at me. He immediately stood straight, puffing out his chest and running a hand through his blonde hair. I could've sworn he was trying to flirt when he flashed me a grin and said, "Hello."

I knew right away something was wrong with this. _What's a stranger doing on the WaveRider?!_

"Uh… Hi…" I glanced over at Jax and Stein who hadn't noticed my entrance.

"I'm Martin. What's your name?" He asked, stepping closer.

"Martin…?" I usually don't call Professor Stein by his first name, so it didn't click right away. But when it did, my mouth fell open and my eyes went wide. Of course, … We were in the 70's, back when Stein was in college. "Um… My name isn't important." Before he could tell me otherwise, I stepped to the side, slowly backing away. "Uh, just wait there. I-I need to speak to these two for just a second…"

I recognized the confused expression on his face as he said, "Okay…" and it only made the panic rise within me. I quickly jumped over to where Jax and Professor Stein were standing, out of breath as I asked, "What the hell is going on?"

"I see you've met my selfish, egoistic, younger self." Stein grumbled, running a hand over his forehead.

Jax opened his mouth as if to intervene, but I was quick to cut him off, focusing on the main issue at hand. "What is he doing here?!" I squealed.

"Rip gave us permission to go with Sara and talk to him about some fission crap or whatever," Jax explained. I began to wonder how long I had been hiding away, fixing at my gloves when he added, "while Ray, Leonard, and Mick went to steal some ancient artifact- it's like a dagger or something- that we may or may not be able to use to kill Savage."

The pit in my stomach grew more before I managed my next question, "And how long have they been gone?"

"A while, why?"

I reached for an earpiece on the center table and clicked it on before shoving it in my ear, "Ray, are you there?"

There was some static on the other line before I heard, "Leah!" The excitement left his voice as he said, "You'll never guess what happened…"

"You found the dagger?" I tried with a lack of hope.

"Well, yes, actually, we did." He quirked up, before faltering again. "However, the house we were trying to steal it from… Yeah, it's Vandal Savage's house…"

My heart fell. "Of course, it is…"

 _Well, I just finished my gloves… No better time to test them out than during a rescue mission._

Jax and Stein merged just as we entered the house. We split up as they searched the upstairs and I searched the downstairs. It wasn't long before I saw the scene in a large room; Leonard and Ray were behind bars while Mick was on the floor with a gun pressed to his forehead. The man holding the pistol to his thick skull? Vandal Savage, of course.

This was my first time seeing him in person; his long dark hair and beard matched his black eyes. His evil smirk that was for the men behind bars made me want to smack him in the face, hard enough to knock the forced smile off of him.

I watched him sigh before pressing the pistol firmly into Mick's skin. "Your friends are taking too long."

I gasped and brought my gloved hand up to shoot at him, when the heat of fire entered the room. I watched as Vandal jumped back, just barely missing Jax's fire as he stood at the top of the steps.

"Who are you?" Vandal growled before correcting himself, "What are you?"

Jax just laughed which seemed to anger our villain. He brought his hand up to aim his gun at the boy's head, when I brought both of my hands up this time.

I had only done this twice before, on accident, back at my apartment right after I had moved out of Central City. But it was scary how easy it was to feel the electricity run through my veins. Taking the source of energy from my gloves, feeling it flow through my veins, and burn in my blood like a form of static, I let it lose through the palm of my hands; watching in awe and relief as my form of bright, blue electricity soared through the air and hit Vandal Savage square in the chest. He flew back, hitting the wall behind him, and when he hit the floor, I watched him convulse against the shock.

After getting over the surprise of it, I ran over to where Mick was lying on the floor as Jax opened the cage. I threw the large man's arm over my shoulders and helped lift him up, making sure he didn't fall over as he wobbled a few times. When free, Leonard and Ray walked over to join us.

"Your gloves worked!" Ray grinned.

"Yeah, thanks to you."

"Didn't know you had it in you, Sparky." Mick grumbled, rubbing his head and blinking away the dizziness.

Jax's face lit up slightly at the sound of my new nickname and I sighed. "Oh, no. Please, don't."

"What, _Sparky?_ " Jax grinned and I watched Ray and Leonard also smile. "You don't like your new name?"

I rolled my eyes, trying not to join their smile-fest. "The name is Techna."

"I like Sparky more." Mick confessed. "It's simple."

"Oh, shut up and let's get out of here before he gets up." I giggled before we all headed out of the house to an even bigger issue.

Vandal Savage's pose seemed to be surrounding the house and ready to attack. As soon as one of them lunged at us, I pulled my bo-staff out, pressing the button on the side for it to grow twice its side, and then swung hard at the guy's side, knocking him over and watching him roll down the front steps of the house.

Another jumped almost like a wild animal at Ray who jumped back just in time to watch a Shuriken sink into his throat and he collapsed onto the ground in front of us. I turned my head to see Sara and Rip running over, shooting and kicking people while Kendra and Carter flew over their heads, occasionally picking people up, lifting them high, and then dropping them again.

"I'm going after Vandal Savage!" Kendra called out with Carter not far behind her.

It ended badly.

In the end, I hooked Kendra up to all the machines in the med-bay after Mick had carried her in. I regretted asking where Carter was when everyone got back to the cortex. And the rest of the day was spent in silence as we all took in our first failure and mourned the loss of a friend.


	6. An Emerald in the Rough

**Chapter 5: An Emerald in the Rough**

Kendra was in critical condition in the med-bay, and everyone else was on edge. Rip was beyond bearable, so most of us tried to steer clear of him unless he called for us. As the days went by, the more I learned from each member of the team. Ray was our technical genius and was good at making gadgets with Professor Stein; although, for some reason, they were always bumping heads. Sara was strong and intuitive, I found myself thinking that she'd be a great leader someday and she even offered to train me more in hand-to-hand combat once. I told her I might take her up on the offer once I fixed updating my gloves. Jax was nice company as we were stranded in the time loop until Kendra healed. He talked much about football, and although I'm not a big sports fan, it was better than hearing Mick complain about being stuck doing nothing and watching Leonard constantly clean his gun.

The last thing I expected from this team was for Leonard to open-up about his family before I even told him about Ronnie. Of course, it wasn't exactly his choice. Rip had asked Jax and I to look over the jump ship and fix it after another fight with Chronos. We weren't inside the jump ship long before Leonard and Mick entered the time ship and threatened Jax to use the jump ship to take us to Central City. After they stole the emerald and appeared back in the jump ship, I was there waiting for them with my arms crossed.

"Looks like we're in trouble," Mick chuckled.

"I can't believe you guys stole an emerald to please your… Your…"

"Our what?"

I sighed, "Your thief ways!"

Mick just laughed again as he took a seat behind me and I noticed the bag in his hands. "What is that?"

"A dead body," Mick told me, something odd sparkling in his eyes, a small smirk almost similar to Leonard's usual smile on his face.

"What?!"

"He's joking," Leonard stated, rolling his eyes.

"It's more treasure, Sparky." Mick told me as if it was supposed to be the most obvious thing in the world. "We don't just steal one thing. What fun would that be?"

I turned to Leonard as he took his seat, "Big guy is right. When you rob a gumball machine, you don't take just one gumball."

"You guys are… Ugh…" I rubbed my temples wearily before adding, "You've made Jax and I your get-aways, practically involving us in the crime as well. Are you happy?"

He pretended to think about it before he shrugged, "Yeah, a little."

"Quit arguing," Jax rolled his eyes, "What's been done has been done. Now buckle up and let's get back to the WaveRider."

"Not so fast." Leonard interrupted him as I took a seat near Jax. "We have one more stop to go to."

"We do?" Mick questioned.

"1629 Hadaley Avenue." Leonard answered shortly.

I turned to him, leaning my arms onto my knees, already exhausted. "What the hell is in Hadaley Avenue?"

"That's where he grew up." Mick told us, his eyes never leaving Leonard.

Leonard was leaning against the wall when he quickly snapped, "Shut up, Mick."

"That's the real reason why you wanted to steal the emerald." He continued, explaining things to us as they clicked in his mind. "You wanted to steal it and give it to your old man, so he wouldn't go to jail trying to steal it for himself."

I remained silent as I looked up at Leonard who was glaring icy daggers at his partner. Mick just continued smirking though, he must have been proud to figure Leonard out. However, Jax was curious.

"Your father was a thief, too?"

I nodded, answering for Leonard, "His whole family is. They're really popular in Central City."

When I turned my attention back to Captain Cold, I was surprised to see him smiling at me. "So, you did know of me before we met?"

I felt my cheeks flush slightly and I turned my head away from him. "Oh, shut up. I know your family are criminals, it's not a compliment."

"But I am a criminal, so I am flattered."

Mick interrupted our quarreling to add, "Didn't Rip say something about how it's dangerous to change the timeline?"

"Mick is right." I told him, getting a bewildered look from Mick, who probably isn't used to hearing those three words. "What? You are." I turned back to Leonard before explaining, "You could blink yourself out of existence."

"Just. Do. It." Leonard turned to Jax with his annoyed tone and expression.

I sighed, turning to Jax who was looking at me with an unsure expression. I shrugged and leaned back in my seat, so exhausted of having to watch over these _children._

When we landed in the past Central City, I peeked out the window at my old home. The town was alit with lights and there was a slight rain drizzling the streets. As I looked out into the dark, I heard Leonard and Mick shuffling behind me.

"Just wait here for me." I heard Leonard quietly tell Mick.

"You sure about this?"  
Leonard didn't hesitate to answer, "Yes." I glanced over at Jax who was looking out at the city with a longing stare when Leonard spoke up louder, "Leah, come with me."

I turned around, raising my eyebrows in surprise. "What?"

"What?" Mick repeated.

"Don't make me repeat myself." He said, rolling his eyes as he headed out the door.

I glanced over at Mick who was watching his partner walk away. _Why would he choose me to come with him and not Mick? What's he planning?_ I stiffened just a bit at the idea of having to defend myself against his cold gun, before I followed him towards the house.

He walked in quietly after picking the lock of the front door, and after I walked in, he shut the door so softly, I barely heard it. All the lights were off except the chandelier in the kitchen. The carpet was gray and the hardwood in the kitchen was much darker, making it kind of hard to see where to look in the dark. I didn't move unless Leonard did, because I didn't want to get caught somewhere I didn't even want to be.

However, I jumped when I heard a little voice say, "I don't know you guys." When we turned around, I looked down to see a little boy, not much taller than my waist with a cup in his hand. "I just came down to get a glass of water…" He explained. "I'm Leo," I could've sworn I felt my heart roll across my chest as I realized I was looking down at the child version of the cold man standing next to me. "Are you guys a friend of my daddy's?"

"Kind of…" Leonard answered in such a soft voice that it almost made me forget that I defined this man as cold and a thief. He bent down to be at eye level with his younger-self. I watched in awe as Leonard spoke, "Can I tell you something, Leo?" The kid didn't say anything, but nodded his head shyly. I was still so shocked at the difference between the two, until Leonard said, "Don't ever let anyone hurt you. Ever. Not in here," he pointed to head and then moved his finger to rest above the little boy's heart as he added, "And especially not here. You must always take care of yourself, okay?"

The little boy nodded, "Okay."

Suddenly, I felt something cold press against the back of my skull and I froze as I heard a voice that was much rougher than Leonard's demand, "Step away from the boy and I won't shoot her, you son of a bitch."

Leonard didn't even flinch, almost as if he wasn't surprised like me. I heard him whisper to little Leo to go back to bed, before the boy turned and ran up the stairs. Then Leonard stood up onto his feet and turned to face us. I tried my best to mask the fear in my eyes, but having a gun threatening to take your life was never a satisfying feeling.

"What are you two doing in here?" Leonard's father growled.

"Relax." Leonard hissed. He reached inside his pocket and pulled out the emerald that him and Mick stole, before saying, "Hand over the girl and this is yours."

There was a silent pause and I held my breath before he pushed me forward. I almost stumbled into Leonard, but he moved out of the way and then stepped back in place as if he was standing in front of me to block me from his father.

"Where did you get that?" His father gasped.

"You steal this two days from now, and you get caught and spend five years in Iron Heights."

"What are you talking about?" His father raised his gun a little higher.

"Let's just say I saved you the trouble." He slammed the expensive gem down on the dining room table.

"How do you know about what I was going to do?"

"Same way I know, if you raise a single hand to your son and wife, just know I know you and the man you'll become. And I would LOVE to end you right now…" Leonard sighed, before snarling, "But if I do that now, my sister would never be born. So, consider yourself lucky." He then turned on his heel, and without looking at me, he said, "Come on."

I followed at his heel out the door. We weren't even outside for two seconds before he said, "I'd apologize for my father, but he's like that with everyone. Don't take it personally."

"He used to abuse you..." I breathed out once we stopped outside the WaveRider.

He stood with his back to me for a few seconds, saying nothing before he turned to face me. I thought I saw a flash of emotional pain cross his features before he masked them with his usual cold demeanor. He really put the bitch in bitch face.

"I guess now you see why I am the way I am." He told me, quietly, under his breath.

My heart ached a tad at the way he was acting. "Look, what I said before… About you being a criminal and all… You had a rough upbringing, yes. But that doesn't mean you have to follow in your father's footsteps."

"Well, that's why I'm working with you, isn't it?" He looked up to meet my eyes and I could've sworn there was a little silver in his blue eyes, it was almost mesmerizing. I snapped out of it though as he added, "And the rest of the team. I'm still a criminal, though, no matter what you think. I like stealing, it makes me happy."

"Why doesn't it matter what I think, anyways?" I asked.

He hesitated once more, but this time, he looked… almost surprised by my sudden question. Though, it was a simple question really. But he remained stoic as he glanced at the jump ship once more, stuffing his hands into his coat pockets.

In the end, he turned to me with a smirk and shrugged, "You're right. It doesn't."

He left me standing there, confused as he strolled into the jump ship. I stomped and let out a growl of my own. I couldn't understand why he had to be so confusing, frustrating, and just simply agitating. He really knew how to press all the wrong buttons.

"And I thought Mick was the confusing one…" I mumbled under my breath before heading inside the shelter of the jump ship.

The ride back to the WaveRider was quiet and long, but the ride back to 2017 was even more so. Kendra had finally woken up and Rip decided it was about time we pay respect to our fallen team member and his son. I dressed in a simple, black attire for the funeral and gave Kendra some flowers for the graves.

Rip tried his hardest to come up with aspiring words as the sun beat down on our backs, but he wasn't able to come up with much. Finally, turning to Kendra with a sympathetic frown, she just smiled and shook her head.

"It's okay." She told him. "He wouldn't want a long speech, anyways."

I didn't return to my own little corridor for a while. Part of me didn't want to be alone, because I knew what would happen when I was all by myself. I was down and depressed. I could feel it settling deep in my stomach, trying to rise up into my face and spill out over my cheeks, but I held it in, anyways. However, it was hard whenever I glanced over at Kendra's face. Her brown eyes were glues to the floor, never looking up at any of us, and her lips were sunken into a frown that looked like it would last forever.

By time I convinced myself that perhaps being alone would be best in this situation, he showed up once more. He sat at the edge of my bed, swinging his long legs back and forth as if he was a little kid all over again. I didn't bother even looking up at him as he sat and watched me peel off my jacket and shoes before taking a sit in a chair across the room. It wasn't until I sat down that I looked up at him; however, his eyes were no longer on me.

Looking at the spot on the side table where Ronnie was staring at, I noticed a long black box sitting on the surface as if it belonged there. But I didn't recognize it.

Getting up from my seat, I stepped forward and picked up the box to quickly pop it open. I guess that was stupid: it could have been a bomb or snake, or something serious. But something in me trusted it. Finding a beautiful, single-ruby necklace on the inside was the last thing I expected. But it only took me two seconds to figure out who set it there.

 _"_ _When you rob a gumball machine, you don't take just one gumball."_

I sighed, setting the box down on the table and mumbling under my breath, "What an idiot…"

"I don't know, I like it." Ronnie nonchalantly told me with a shrug of his shoulders. "I think it's cute."

"Oh, who cares what you think?" I snapped, sitting back down in the chair, crossing my arms over my chest and giving him a glare.

"Apparently, you do." He grinned widely, before knowingly adding, "I am your subconscious after all."

I rolled my eyes after feeling the sinking pit in my stomach. I knew Ronnie was just a figment of my imagination since the moment are started seeing him around my house back at Star City; however, the fact that he voices everything I don't want to admit is just annoying. Hearing myself admit it in my head is one thing, hearing my twin repeat it out loud is another.

"Go away." I muttered before getting up and joining him on the bed, I turned my back to him to adjust my pillow before turning around to see he was gone.

Just before I laid down, I glanced once… Maybe twice at the little black box on my table.


	7. Before The Fire

Our first mission after the death happened to be in Washington D.C, 1986 where Rip thought we could handle a break-in at the Pentagon. However, the whole ordeal backfired; we were almost arrested, Kendra's crazy hawk-version almost scarred my face, and we just barely made it out with Savage's file in hand.

In the end, we all sat pouting and sulking in the main room of the WaveRider. I sat in a chair next to Sara, feeling much more agitated and pissed off than I expected.

"I don't see the big deal," Kendra calmly stated, "We got the file."

I did my best not to speak up, but couldn't help the roll of my eyes which I covered with my blonde hair.

"I agree, it was awesome." Mick huffed.

I opened my mouth, ready to spit something out when Professor Stein beat me to it, "In the same way tsunamis, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are awesome, surely. All went smoothly I suppose, despite the hiccup with the alarm."

"Oh, so it's my fault?" Jax snapped.

"Oh, shut it!" I tried screaming, but to no avail as it came out in much more of a squeal. "Who cares what you two think? At least Big Bird here didn't try and scratch off _your_ faces."

"Big Bird?!"

"Enough!" Rip shouted, silencing all of us at once. "What happened has happened… We're just lucky the Department of Defense likes to keep these sorts of things under wraps. Now, Gideon, any luck with our secret file?" He then mumbled, "Please say yes…"

"Yes, Captain. Seems Vandal Savage has defected to the Soviet Union."

"You mean our enemy has gone Red at the height of the Cold War?" Martin asked before sarcastically adding Mick's previous word, " _Awesome."_

My nerves didn't settle down, even as we took off towards the Soviet Union.

As the ship took flight, I decided to roam the hallways in hopes of shaking off this odd feeling. I felt a sort of pent up anger in the pit of my stomach and I couldn't quite place why it was there in the first place. I stuck my hands in my jacket pocket as I walked down the hall and my hand hit something hard. Pulling it out, I remembered placing my secret-little-gift in there in order to confront Leonard about it.

"Perhaps that's why you're angry?" Ronnie asked, stepping up to step next to me. "I mean, it is stolen."

I shook my head, looking down at the necklace as I opened the lid, "No. I'm over it. Besides, it was stolen in the past, not like anyone can do anything about it now."

"You're starting to sound like him now."

"Shut up," I mumbled before jumping away from the figure suddenly standing in front of me.

"Who you talking to?" Leonard asked, eyeing the space around us, seemingly confused when he realized no one was there.

I shook my head, still holding the box out in between us. "No one…"

His icy eyes then glanced down at the gift in my hand and his smirk formed on his face once more. "So, I'm assuming you didn't like your present?"

"What makes you think that?"

"You're not wearing it."

"I can't," I informed him, suddenly making up my mind. I shoved the box against his chest, yet he still didn't take it. "It's stolen. I don't want your stolen treasures, Leonard."

He chuckled then, taking my hand in his gloved one and pushing it back towards me. "I didn't do this one, sweetheart."

I rolled my eyes, "Who else would steal a necklace for a girl?"

His smirk grew into a smile as he reminded me, "I'm not the only thief on this ship." I felt stupid when it dawned on me, realizing that I hadn't even thought of Mick giving the gift. However, I had reason to: why would I think Mick would give me the necklace? He had no reason to. He wasn't a flirt like his partner. "Besides," Leonard let out a cough to bring my attention back to him before telling me, "I wouldn't have chosen a Ruby necklace. You'd look far better in sapphire than in red."

"Why did Mick give this to me?" I asked, still holding it away from me.

He shrugged his shoulders, "I'll be honest, no idea. Mick doesn't give gifts, not even to me."

That last bit sounded a bit bitter on his lips, so I gave him a smirk of my own, clamping my hand around the box and holding it up between our faces. "Jealous much?"

"Hardly." Was his reply. He stepped past me to walk away when he added, "Again, you'd look better in sapphire."

"Weirdo." I whispered under my breath as I watched him walk away. I observed his blue parka bouncing on his broad shoulders and watched the way he sauntered down the hall.

Then I heard Ronnie's voice speak up again, "But cute, right?"

I glared at him as he gave me a toothy grin, almost like he would give mom when we were kids. "Don't call him cute, that's even weirder."

"Hey," he held up his hands, "I only say what you're thinking, remember?"

Before I could answer, the ground below me moved and I fell over immediately. Some of the pipes around me popped and blew out steam. I stashed the box back in my pocket as I picked myself up off the ground, looking around me, expecting to see some attacker but coming up emptyhanded. I gasped as the room tilted slightly and I stumbled towards the wall where I stabled myself by holding onto one of the large pipes.

"What the hell is going on?" I squealed.

The lights flickered on and off a couple of times, surprisingly not being the result of my panicked feelings for once as I heard Gideon announce, "Initiating emergency landing protocol."

I sighed, gripping onto the pipe with both hands and awaiting the large thud that awaited. I hissed when the floor convulsed underneath me, causing me to fly a few feet off the ground and ramming my shoulder into the metal pipe above me. When I came back down along with the ship, I hit the floor hard and waited for the rumble to end before getting back up. Rubbing my shoulder, I returned to the main room to find the team already discussing our next plan.

Seeing as I wasn't needed right away, I took the opportunity to take myself and my aching limb to my room to take a little nap. I crawled up onto my bed and starred up at the ceiling, absentmindedly rubbing at the fabric on the black box that still sat upright in my pocket.

"Are you going to thank him?" Ronnie asked, taking a seat across the room.

"For stealing?" I questioned back, casting him a sideways glance.

He shrugged, "If that's how you want to see it." He leaned back in the seat, crossing his arms and smiling at me once more. "But you heard Leonard, Mick never hands out gifts. So, you should thank him for doing a good deed."

"You were literally lecturing me on how it was stolen about twenty minutes ago."

He sighed, "Hey, you're the one with the conflicted mind here. Not me."

"Perhaps…" I sighed before sitting up, placing the box on my lap, and opening it once more. After careful thought, I said out loud, "I can't go up to him and thank him."

"Why not?"

"I may not know Mick very well, but I have a feeling he doesn't do compliments. He'll probably pretend he doesn't know what I'm talking about."

Ronnie nodded his head with every word I spoke. "Sounds about right." Then his eyes went wide as I wrapped the silver chain around my neck and clipped it in place to where the ruby stone hung just above the collar of my shirt. "What are you doing?"

I shrugged casually before closing the now empty box and setting it aside. "If I can't properly thank him, the less I can do is wear it, right?"

Ronnie's demeanor immediately relaxed, seeing as I had made up both parts of my mind. "You're the boss."

His image soon faded away as I heard some grunts outside my door. Hearing the sound of a fight, I immediately rushed out to check what was going on and was surprised to see Sara pinning Kendra down on the ground, her hands wrapped tightly around the Egyptians' neck.

"Sara!" I didn't even bother grabbing at her, knowing full well what was going on. I wasn't there for when Sara got resurrected, but Oliver had told me a little bit about it and how it slightly affected her humanity. Seeing her choking the life out of Kendra now, I finally understood what she meant. "Sara, let go, you're killing her! It's our friend! It's Kendra!"

I didn't relax until the blank gaze in her eyes was gone, she blinked a few times before throwing herself off of Kendra, and backed away slowly. I held my hands out towards her, trying to show her it was okay, but she didn't hesitate to run off.

"Sara!" I called out to her, following her all the way to her room where she shut the door on me. "Sara, come on! Let me in!" I waited outside for ten minutes before giving up and walking away.

I had reached Rip's office in time to hear him explain his dilemma with his old-Time-Master-friend and the Time Master's offer to him. Jax stood in the corner, listening intently until Rip finished.

"So, what happens now?" He asked after Rip ad poured himself a glass of whiskey. "You turn yourself in to the Time Masters and then what? The rest of us just—"

"You'll all be returned back to your original time lines." He assured Jax. "As if none of this ever happened."

"But it did happen." I spoke up, leaning against the doorframe.

Stein nodded his gray-head, "Leah is right. Starling City might also fall into the hands of the U.S.S.R thanks to our efforts."

"All the more reason to consider the offer." Rip pointed out. "Look, I didn't say the offer was without it's downrights. I still lose my wife and son…"

"Then why throw in the towel?" Jax asked.

"Look, when we first started, I wasn't even thoroughly honest about my reasons for this mission or… Or how dangerous it might be…"

I could read the guilty look glued all over his face. I sighed before reminding him, "Carter knew the risks before joining the team."

Rip nodded before saying, "And now it's time for you all to decide if the future is worth the risk."

"I think it is." I admitted immediately.

"Me too," Jax stated.

"Agreed," Stein chimed in.

"Know what that means?" I asked Rip who downed his glass in one gulp. "It means you can go tell your Time Master friend that we don't accept any offers. We have things handled here."

I hid behind a tree not far from where Rip was meeting his old friend. I had to squeeze in just a tad to make room for Mick who occasionally peeked out from our hiding spot to watch Rip's movements.

"Are we sure his friend is actually going to attack him?" I whispered, turning to the tall man who held his heat-ray gun close to his chest. "I mean, they were friends once…"

Mick shook his head before looking down at me. "I heard the way his "friend" spoke to him earlier. There's no doubt in my mind that this is a trap…"

His voice seemed to trail off at the end of is sentence, so I curiously looked up to see what had gotten his attention. I almost snapped at him when I realized his eyes were focused on something other than my face, when I remembered I was wearing the ruby necklace. He turned his head quickly as if to check on Rip once more, but the pink shade on his cheeks gave him away instantly.

Ronnie stood a few feet away from us, not even needing to struggle to find a hiding spot, the lucky bastard. He only smiled at Mick as he said, "Busted. So, it was him."

I hid my smile by turning my back on the big man and peeking out at the tree to get a look as well. What I hadn't been expecting was to see Chronos holding a gun to Rip Hunter's head.

"Never had you pegged as a coward, Druce." Rip chuckled, trying to keep his shaking body still with the weight of a gun held to his skull. It brought me back to when Leonard's father held a gun to my head and I involuntarily shuddered.

"In that case, I'll remain here to see that your punishment is set out properly. I wouldn't want you die alone."

"Who says I'm alone?"

As if we had planned that to be the signal or phrase needed to step out of our hiding spots, Mick and I both emerged from the tree together; he shot his heat gun at Chronos at the same time that I struck him with electricity from my gloves. Chronos flew back several feet, landing on the ground hard, while Jax shot flames towards Druce.

I stepped forward to shock Chronos once more when he kicked out and knocked me onto my back. Hitting the solid dirt hard, my head bounced back and for a second, I thought I saw stars swirling around the trees. I blinked and regained my sense just enough to see Chronos aim his gun at my face. I gasped, expecting him to pull the trigger immediately, when his large, metallic body froze. Confused, I myself had frozen in place, forgetting the gloves on my hands for a split second.

That is until Jax shot some flames our way, just barely missing Chronos' head. Chronos then whipped around and reached for something large sticking out of his belt. The word _grenade_ flickered through my mind just before he could throw it Jefferson's way.

"Jax!" I heard myself scream before rolling up off the ground and lunging towards the kid.

Then there was a sudden flash and before my hand could meet with the material of Jax's shirt, I was forced off to the side by the fiery explosion and sent smacking into a tree before I hit the ground. Luckily, I had remembered to cover my head this time, although that didn't stop the swirling stars from appearing as I sat up on my hands and knees.

"Jax? Jax!" I heard Rip and Stein call out urgently as Stein's hands reached out to help me up. "I lost him," he told me. "The explosion must have caused us to separate."

I felt a pang of panic before we all heard Jax call out, "Right here, relax."

We turned to see him stumbling our way, holding his head. "I'm fine…"

"Then why didn't you answer when I called out to you?" Stein barked as I rubbed my throbbing side.

"I didn't hear…" Jax sighed, stumbling a bit more. My body reacted before my foggy mind understood what was going on and I caught him as he fell into mine and Mick's arms.

"Jax?"

"He needs the med-bay. Now." Rip ordered.

"What happened to him?" Ray asked as we stepped inside the main room of the WaveRider.

"Chronos." I gasped, holding onto my abdomen with one hand as I helped Jax hold himself up with the other.

Jax eyed me suspiciously, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"It's probably just bruised," I guessed before peering down at his bloody side. "You're the one who is bleeding."

"That's what happens when you almost get yourself killed." Stein sarcastically mumbled.

I ignored him, sighing as I tried to pull Jax along with me. "Come on. Take it slowly." I meant to lead him out the door, following Rip and Mick when Stein spoke up again.

"Don't bother. He'll just do opposite of everything you tell him."

"Do you got a problem?" Jax asked, pulling out of my grasp to turn and face the professor.

"Seems our partnership has become untenable."

"Partnership?" Jax laughed dryly. "This is no partnership, it's a dictatorship."

I started to feel that agitating feeling bubble up inside me again and I tried to step in between them, but the professor's face flushed with anger before I could. "Do you think I like seeing you hurt?"

"Don't pretend you care!"

"Both of you!" I stepped forward, trying to get a say in the argument, but the pain in my abdomen began to burn and instead, I leaned forward, grasping at my aching body instead. I leaned into Ray for support as he jumped forward to help.

The conversation grew more intense as Jax asked, "Did you ever stop to think that I had a life back in Central City? One that _YOU_ kidnapped me from?"

"Oh, this old tune." Stein sighed before laughing, "You were an auto-mechanic!"

"I had a mom!" Jax shouted. "A widow! Who will probably have no choice but to think I left her if I don't make it back to 2016! Do you have any idea what they does to her?"

Stein face remained flushed and cold as he stated, "We've all made sacrifices!"

"When are you going to learn that you are not my father?"

"If your father were here, he'd be saying the same as me, Jefferson." Stein informed him. "Just _GROW UP,_ Jefferson. The future of the world is at stake and I'm more concerned with the billions of people who will die because of your egoistic adolescent ego!"

With that final statement, the room went silent. The boiling blood in my veins seemed to have popped and set another, more chilling feeling up my spine as I stood and starred at the two arguing men in the room. I continued to stare at the gray-haired man as the other left the room, clutching desperately at his side, and limping away.

"Was that necessary?" I asked, coldly as the professor turned to us.

"I know it was harsh, but it was the only way I could get through to him! I don't want to see another partner die, I can't!"

As if washed away by ice cold water, the burning anger subsided into something far more devastatingly painful that sat in the pit of my chest. I assumed it had been the comment on my brother's death that had caused it at the time.

I sighed, still leaning against Ray and clutching my side. "Jax isn't Ronald, Professor. He is his own person."

"I can't see him die." Stein repeated, finally looking me in the eye. "Because then I have to be the one to go home to his mother and tell her that her little boy is never returning home, and I rather die than do that…"

Ray and I both watched the professor turn on his heel and leave the room. I was left unsure of what to say. Yet, the cold-pit feeling in my chest evaporated as the large, metal door shut behind the professor.

I slept in the next day, still feeling achy from the explosion and when I sat up in bed, I thought for sure that the aching in my abdomen was going to cause me to vomit. I hadn't slept well at all and the thing that frightened me the most was the sudden burst of heat in my hands that woke me up. I for sure thought they were on fire, but was confused when I glanced down at them to find that nothing was wrong. Getting out of bed and changing into a simple sweater found to be more difficult that I imagined. I avoided looking in the mirror at the large, purple bruise that took up my whole side. Gideon offered to heal it for me, but I politely declined, stating that I wasn't comfortable with technology that I didn't quite understand nor could I control.

But as my hands continued to burn and Ronnie gave me a look of concern, I sighed to myself, "Yeah, maybe I'll have Gideon figure out what's going on. But later… It seems a little quiet… Too quiet…"

Making my way to the main room, I saw the team standing around, looking quite pale-faced and panicky. Even Leonard.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Mick has been kidnapped." Leonard bluntly stated.

"And Ray and Professor Stein." Jax added with a roll of his eyes.

"What?" I squealed, regretting it immediately and pressing a hand to my side. "How?"

"It happened while we were working on getting that." Leonard sneered, jabbing his thumb toward some box with a large, circle-shaped thing inside.

"The thermal-core." Rip explained. "Used to create Firestorm."

"Why didn't anyone wake me?"

Sara shrugged her shoulders, "We figured you could use the rest, seeing as you won't let Gideon fix your side."

I shot her a glare before stating, "I was actually just about to do that. And then we're saving the others." And with that, I stomped out of the room, headed for the med-bay.


	8. Scorching Chilling

Stepping outside into the ruin city didn't help the uneasy feeling in my stomach. Everything about the place was wrong.

"I thought you said Star City was safe?" Sara snapped at Rip as we walked down a dark street, cluttered with abandoned cars and broken homes.

"Star City 2016 is. This is Star City 2046."

"What happened here?" Ray asked, his wide eyes scouring the area for anything that might look familiar. However, everything was different here, even I knew that and I had only gotten to live in Star City for a few months before Rip recruited us.

No one had time to guess before an arrow flew right over Ray's head. Surprised, we all turned to the source of the weapon to find a shadow standing tall on top of one of the abandoned cars in the middle of the street. I eyed his suit, recognizing the green fabric and the bow and arrow aimed right at us.

"Oliver?" Sara said out loud, mimicking my thoughts exactly.

As she stepped forward, the man spoke up, "Don't move." I flinched inwardly at the tone of voice, still eyeing the way the man stood and everything else about his posture. Something was just off about it.

"It's me, Sara."

"I said don't move!" His voice rising as Sara took a step forward.

"Look, Oliver, I know it's been a while, but it's us!" Ray tried reasoning with him, stepping up to stand beside Sara. "Remember Rip came and recruited us to become legends?"

The suspicious feeling in my gut was finally answered when the man stepped out of the shadow to reveal that he was in fact not Oliver Queen. "I never heard of any legends."

We all had barely little time to duck behind some cars before he started shooting arrows at us again. I managed to find a hiding spot behind a beige car with Mick and Sara.

"This guy is a friend of yours?" Mick hollered to the two of us over the explosions the man was causing with his arrows. "I don't like him!" He did his best along with Leonard and Rip to aim at the man in green, but he was too fast.

"This can't be The Green Arrow…" Kendra gasped as her and Ray ducked behind a car next to us.

"That's not him!" I called back, regretting the fact I had left my electric gloves in the Waverider.

"Sure dresses like him…" Ray pointed out.

Leonard aimed his cold gun from behind a fallen pillar before adding, "Shoots arrows like him, too."

"Fall back!" Rip finally ordered, causing all of us to stand and scatter.

I just barely missed an explosion to my right, causing me to clutch my already injured arm and run until the bottoms of my feet burned.

When new reached the safety of the Waverider once more, we all followed Rip to the main room while he struggled to explain how the future of Star City 2046 was not yet set and how there was nothing we could do to prevent this future until we got back to our own time. It was obvious that none of us were very pleased with having to be stuck on the Waverider until we could fully repair it; however, none of us spoke of this displeasure out loud.

I found myself viewing broken pieces of the engine room a few minutes later with Jax, Ray, and Rip. I did my best to keep my hands to myself, although I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still curious about how all the future tech worked. It was also still a bit frustrating not being able to feel the technology around me.

"How long will repairs take?" Rip asked Jax, bringing my attention back to the problem at hand.

"No idea," Jax admitted. "Although, it might go faster if I had an extra set of hands? Maybe Kendra could help?"

At the sound of her name, a new, curious emotion set in my veins and flowed through. The only way I could describe it was that of what it felt like to have the electricity flow through my veins. I knew it wasn't mine completely and that my body didn't come up with the motion itself, yet it was still there, flowing through me. Whatever the boys had gone on talking about, I muted out as I focused on this new, separate feeling. Glancing over at Jax, it was then that I knew what was going on.

 _"_ Is he interested in her?" I heard Ronnie ask beside me as we both studied Jax from across the room. "I mean, you do have a relatively-close-to-physic-connection with the boy and the professor now that you've merged with them…"

"Makes sense." I mumbled before shaking the feeling off. As weird as it was to know I could share the same emotion with the boys, it was even weirder to know that emotion was set towards the Egyptian princess. Before I could get more of a taste of Jax's feelings, I quickly left the room, looking for the rest of the team.

However, Rip appeared to walk beside me. "I'm going to need your help."

"With what?"

"Babysitting." He replied, hanging me my gloves.

I paused for a second as he continued down the hall. "…. Huh?"

It wasn't until Rip asked Leonard and Mick to steal some prototype from the new Smoak Technologies building, that I had an inkling for what I was babysitting. I sighed, dreading the idea of having to watch over our two criminals in a future set to look like a playground for criminals alike, when Sara walked in.

"I'm coming with you." She announced, dressed in her White Canary suit, all set to go.

"Absolutely not," Rip sighed. "You're too emotional connected to this city."

"I live in Star City…" I reminded him.

"Yes, as a new resident. You weren't born and raised there, hence why I'm not too concerned about bringing you along with me."

"No one knows this city better than I do." Sara pointed out. "You got us on a mission to change the timeline for yourself and you won't let us even look at our futures?"

Rip sighed once more, glancing at Leonard, Mick, and I for some help. Unfortunately for him, the three of us stayed to the side, shrugging our shoulders and secretly pleased that it was Rip who was on Sara's bad side and not us.

"You're going to need me out there. Now either I'm coming with you, or we can see if the Time Masters are as good at teaching people to fight as the League of Assassins."

I think it's easy to understand that Sara came along with us to scour the streets of Star City 2046.

Of course, our plans never go quite as planned though and we ended up in the middle of World War 3 in the center of a small street. Trying to duck for cover, I felt a hand grab my elbow and pull me away from the gunshots and grunts. I turned to find Leonard pulling me towards an abandoned bus.

"Ladies first," Mick teased from behind us before taking my waist and practically lifting me up three of the stairs. The rest of them shuffled behind us as we crawled to the back of the bus and kept our heads down.

I couldn't see much out the window, but something had caught Sara's eyes and within seconds, she was headed back out into the danger zone again.

"Sara!" Rip shouted in warning with no success. We watched her blonde hair bounce away for just a second before Rip whirled around to face the three of us. "Stay here!" And with that, he was also out the door.

He wasn't gone a full minute before Mick spoke up, "We're not really staying here, are we?"

I turned to Leonard, and to no surprise, he was giving that mischievous smirk on his face. "Let's check out that bank we passed not two blocks from here."

"You're joking, right?" I asked, knowing full well they were not. "Rip said to stay here."

"You going to stop us?" Mick responded with too much fire in his eyes, practically begging me to challenge him. However, I wasn't in the mood. I didn't even want to have to babysit anyways.

With another sigh, I shook my head. "No."

"Then join us." Leonard offered before heading out the door.

Assuming Rip would kill me whether I went with them or left them to their own devious plans, I decided to go ahead and follow. Rather die with the boys than alone.

However, I wasn't surprised to find them face-to-face with other bandits when I left the shelter of the bus. Making my way over, I tried my best to avoid the lingering eyes of the men that sat a little too confidentially on their motorcycles.

"Ah, who is this?" The man who seemed to be the leader of these misfits asked. He wasn't as tall as Mick, but more built than Leonard. On his wide shoulders hung an off-white fur coat to show how "special" he was. "You got yourself a little girlie, huh?" His question was directed towards the two men beside me, who both had their hands on their weapons, ready to aim and fire. "How 'bout this? You give me the girl, and I let you walk."

"You have plenty of women." Leonard pointed out, not even glancing at the women who were also equipped with motorcycles or men.

The man with the fur coat shrugged, "Never can have enough women."

Something about that comment forced me to choke back bile.

I heard Mick growl to my left, "She ain't for sale."  
"Then I suggest the three of you leave my town."

I raised an eyebrow, "I don't see your name anywhere on these streets."

I kind of hated the fact that I spoke up, because then his beady little eyes landed on mine. His devilish grin made me feel like spiders were crawling on my skin. I steadied myself, refusing to shrink under his stare.

"Mmm, feisty too." The man licked his lips and it took everything in me not to throw up right then and there as his tongue slithered over the dry, cracked, bruised lips of his. "I like that."

He made a step towards me, but before I could step away, Leonard slid in front of me, blocking my view of the creepy man and vice versa.

"My partner said she isn't for sale." Leonard reminded him, coldly. "Which means no touchy-touchy."

"Especially not around us." Mick's eyes narrowed, his hand curled around his gun, knuckles white.

Then I heard a blow and gasped as Leonard staggered back, holding his jaw. The skin there was slightly bruised, in the shape of the fur-man's large knuckles. My hand landed on his arm, keeping him back by me as I checked for swelling. I almost missed the part where Mick released his heat-gun and shot it at fur-man.

As Leonard straightened back up, Mick was taking the fur coat for himself, relishing in the feel of it as he draped it over his bulky frame. He grinned at us like a kid during Christmas before turning to the leaderless crew. Walking over to the abandoned motorcycle that once belonged to the unconscious (and probably dead) leader, he jumped on and sank happily into the leather seat.

"Come on, Mick." Leonard said, stretching his jaw slightly as he spoke. "It's time to head back."

Mick looked up at us with a new spark in his eyes. "Why would we?" He turned the engine on before pointing at some red-headed, busty chick next to us. "You. Come on."

I watched the woman climb on the back of Mick's motorcycle before turning to Leonard, unsure of what to do. His blue eyes glanced down at me before sighing, caving in as he walked over to take a motorcycle for his own. I stood there, still conflicted by the sudden change of plans, before Leonard patted the seat behind him.

They both had just stopped a man from harassing me. They kept him from touching me and out of harms way. With them, I was safe in a city like this.

 _Oh, what the hell._ I threw caution to the wind, slinging on leg over the vehicle and settling in behind Leonard, clutching on tightly to his blue parka as we took off down the street, owning the city as our own.

I never really enjoyed the smell of smoke, sweat, alcohol, and sex in the air. However, in the misfits' little hide-out, the scent was almost impossible to get away from. The music was loud enough to shake the bar I was leaning against and sent that vibrating pulse through every inch of my being, ringing in my ears as people danced provocatively around me.

 _How did I let myself get caught up here?_ I wondered as I sighed out loud, resting my elbows against marble surface in front of me.

"You look like you could use a drink." A voice said, snapping me out of my misery. I wasn't too surprised to see the tattooed bartender speaking to me. It's their job to be alcohol servers and semi-counselors, or so I've heard.

I shook my head and politely declined, "Oh, no, I don't drink."

 _"_ _That's a lie."_ I could hear Ronnie's voice laugh in my head. I had to bite my tongue to keep from telling him to shut it.

The bartender eye-balled me suspiciously. "You don't drink? Then what are you doing here?"

"Babysitting," I responded almost too quickly, trying not to roll my eyes in the back of my head. "You see, I'm supposed to watch over these two-." I turned my head to point out Mick whom I had last saw downing a drink with the red-headed bimbo on his arm and Leonard, who was being cornered by some blondes, but I found myself looking in a crowd of faces I didn't recognize instead. "Shit…" I hissed under my breath, sighing once more in frustration.

"Seems like you're doing a terrible job." With furrowed eyebrows, I turned to face him just as he sat a small shot glass down in front of me. "Not blaming you," he assured me. "Watching over a group like this is a hassle, I would know."

I couldn't help but crack a smile at that. "I'm sure you do."

"Go ahead, drink." He said, nodding to the glass he set in front of me as he wiped down an empty one in his hands.

"But my friends-."  
"Are probably doing the same thing right now."

That made me stop short. He was right.

Why was I always the one who was thinking responsibly? Why was I always the one who had to remind everyone of the mission at hand? I thought back to the mission back in 1970, when the others had to convince me to go to the bar with them to have a little fun. Yeah, sure, it ended in a bar fight, but we didn't cause any issues to the timeline and everyone made it out alive.

"You're pretty good at that," I finally said, taking the small shot glass in my hand.

"Good at what?" He asked, though the small smirk on his lips told me he knew exactly what I was talking about.

I smiled and gave him a playful roll of my eyes. "I bet you're the reason why everyone in here is drunk," I told him, before shooting back the hard liquor he put in my glass. It burned on the way down and didn't take long to kick in, making some of the worrisome knots in my stomach disappear instantly. "Got any more of that stuff?"

"Sure." As I reached in to my pocket to pull out my wallet, he shook his head. "Everything is on me."

"Really?"

"Yeah. To be honest, you look like you need it."

Oh, boy, he was not wrong. I'm not sure how many drinks I had before I finally let loose, but when I did, all worries were thrown to the wind. I think it was my tenth shot I had before some random girls convinced me to go on the dance floor with them. I couldn't remember the last time I went to a party… Actually, I couldn't remember much to be honest.

I spun my head around, trying to remember what I was doing there in the first place, when the whole room moved with my eyes. I stumbled and knocked into some couple who had their tongues jammed down each other's throats. They didn't break apart until I tripped into them the second time.

"Want to join us?" The woman grinned, lipstick smeared over her upper lip and teeth.

"Uh, no thank you…" I managed a smile before stepping away from the two. _I'm drunk, but not that drunk._

Finally, when I reached the bar, I was disappointed to see the original bartender was replaced with another. However, there was one familiar figure who sat on a barstool right dab in the middle of the alcohol-zone. I couldn't help but grin when I noticed his large form and somehow managed to make my way over to him.

"There you are!" I giggled as I walked up to stand beside him. I thought I saw him flinch slightly when I placed a hand on his broad shoulder, but it didn't fully register because he didn't pull away completely and my drunken-state wasn't paying much attention to details. "I've been so lonely! I couldn't find anyone I knew!"

Mick eyed me with a curious look, sweeping his eyes from my staggering feet to my swaying head. I could just barely see him narrow his eyes at me through my slightly blurry vision. "Are you drunk, Sparky?" He grumbled.

"Only a little." I assured him, patting his shoulder. I continued to keep my hand there for stability, seeing as my whole being kept tilting from one side to the next.

I thought I saw him crack a smile, "So, you're a funny drunk, huh? Not what I expected."

"Well, what did you expect?" I asked as he took a long drag of the beer in his hand.

"Emotional drunk."

"What?" I squealed, placing a hand over my heart. "Me? Noooo."

He nodded, "Oh yeah. I pictured you as a crier and everything." He admitted it so easily.

I pouted slightly, feeling a little down but only for a short second before realizing how much I liked the song that was playing. I immediately began moving my hips to the beat, still holding onto Mick in case my feet decided to give out.

"Having fun?" He asked.

"Loads! I've danced all night! I even got asked to join some make-out fest over there!" I informed him excitedly, pointing over to the couple who were even more handsy now than they were when I bumped into him.

His face quickly fell, "You didn't… Did you?"

I laughed at how wide his eyes were. "Nah."

I continued to move to the music when I heard him mumble, "Good."

"Why?" I questioned, finally stilling my body and turning to fully face him. "Did you want to kiss me yourself, Mick?"

His eyes widen even more as I leaned forward slightly more than I had planned, almost stumbling into his arms completely. One of his hands reached out and caught my waist before I could fall into his lap. I never noticed how large his hands were until this one almost curled around my whole hip. I could see him gulp at the smoky air around us.

"No." He finally said, pushing me back just enough to where he gained his personal space again.

"Ouch." I frowned. That one hurt a lot more than the comment before, although I couldn't really tell why. "Am I really not that kissable?"

The big guy's cheeks flushed slightly as he took another long drag of the cold beer in his large hand. "I don't know, never kissed you before, Sparky."

"Well," I stepped forward then, allowing the drink in my system to pull me forward, standing in between his legs as he remained frozen on his stool. He tensed up a little when I first wrapped my arms around his neck, but he was so warm, I couldn't help it. "If you kiss me now, then you'll know how kissable I am, right?" I couldn't read the thoughts flying through his mind, but I could tell he was conflicted for some reason as he furrowed his thick brows. While he was thinking, I got a little side-tracked. "Hey…" My voice turned soft for some reason as I stared into his eyes, "I never noticed you had blue eyes… They always seemed so dark from far away…"

For a split second, his eyebrows relaxed and I could feel the muscles under my arms soften as if my words had touched something soft within him. But he doesn't like to be called soft, so I didn't dare say it out loud. I also didn't mention how warm he felt, even though he was wearing the fur coat he stole and his normal long-sleeves, I could still feel the warmth radiating from him as if he was some walking heater.

Heatwave was a fine persona for him after-all.

But the surprising calmness I was feeling while holding him disappeared all too soon when he pulled my arms off of him and held me at arms-length, his grip tight on both of my shoulders. "I'm ain't going to kiss you."

"Why not?"

"You're drunk."

"So? Bimbo over there," I nodded my head in the direction of the red-head (I think) as he dropped his hands into his lap, "is drunk and you let her get on a motorbike with you!" I scowled.

"You don't want to kiss me," he growled.

"Why not? Because you think you're a bad guy?"

"No! Because you are drunk!" He spits out every word separately as if it would help my foggy mind understand what he was trying to say.

"What does that have to d-."

"It's only the drink talking, Sparky." He tried reasoning with me, his expression going back to the hard, mean Mick that everyone else sees. "And I don't want to hear you complain about it later when you're sober."

It'd be an understatement to say that the lightbulb finally came on upstairs. To be honest, the meaning of his words hit my head so hard, I thought I was going to lean over and hurl… Or maybe that was the alcohol. However, his words also hit a dormant spot in my chest and sparked a feeling in my heart that I hadn't felt in a while.

"Are you saying…" I hesitated, not wanting the big guy to retaliate and go all angry after I had just heard him hint at something so sweet. "Are you refusing to kiss me because you're afraid it's not consensual…?" He glanced my way a bit, not saying anything before I started to add, "Consensual is when-."

"I know what consent means." He growled, rolling his eyes and taking another drink of his beer.

He didn't say anything for a while before I spoke up again, "Well? That's what you're saying, isn't it? You're afraid I'll regret it later."  
He didn't say anything still, staring straight ahead, probably trying to ignore me. My heart swelled even more though. Here I was being insecure and thinking Mick would kiss anyone but my drunken self right now, when in reality, he wouldn't kiss anyone who is drunk. It wouldn't be considered consensual. He was thinking of me, even when I wasn't thinking of me.

But I knew what I wanted, especially in that moment. There wasn't a single nerve in my body that wanted to run, not a single second-thought in my head. I felt safe doing this. Nothing felt wrong about it. Yeah, I had one too many drinks, but if I hadn't gotten a few drinks in my system, I probably would have never had the courage to even suggest the idea of kissing to Mick.

I wanted to ask Ronnie what he thought, as weird as that sounds, but he wasn't there to nag me and tell me otherwise. _That's because my mind is already set._

Using the only courage I had left, I used the hand I had on Mick's shoulder still to reach up and gently touch his cheek. Mick's eyes went wide again and I thought I heard his breath hitch when my skin touched his, and I froze in fear that I'd scare his gentle side away. I stayed like that for a few seconds, holding my breath, waiting for him to shoo me away again, only relaxing when he didn't move for a good ten minutes. When the coast was clear, I reached out with the other hand and turned his face to look at me, gently stroking the stubble on his jaw.

I could hear him breathing heavily through his nostrils and I was worried he was getting angry, until I noticed his shaking hands in his lap. _Was Mick Rory… Nervous?_

"If you don't want to…" I began to say, swallowing a lump in my throat, afraid he'll decide that it still isn't a good idea. But everything from the tips of my toes to my scalp was telling me that this was what I wanted, so I didn't stop. "Drunk or not, Mick Rory, I do want this." His expression didn't change although his eyes were searching every inch of my face, pausing to look at my lips only a few times. I hated that I wasn't a mind reader in that moment, because he made me wait a long while, I could even feel my hands get a little clammy.

I opened my mouth to ask if he had changed his mind, if I had somehow convinced him that with or without alcohol, I can make grown decisions, but before I could utter another word, I felt him place his mouth over mine. I can't remember ever actually wondering what it would be like to kiss Mick, yet it still somehow managed to be exactly how I thought it would be.

He tasted like beer and cigars, and I know how I mentioned before that I don't like that smell, but the taste of it mingled with his hot breath was something else entirely that gave my head a whole new dizzy feeling. His lips claimed mine so strongly, I felt my body move on its own accord; my toes curling inside my boots and my hands reaching up to grab anything and pull him closer. Slipping my hands underneath the overly-large fur coat, I was satisfied with clinging to his shirt just above his chest. However, I still couldn't control my feet and the force behind his kiss was strong enough to have me staggering backwards. I'm glad I had fisted his shirt, afraid my falling might have given him some impression that I didn't find the kiss satisfying, but that was so not true. Luckily, Mick took the hint and stood up out of his chair, knocking his barstool over, causing me to gasp when he turned us both so I was pressed back into the wooden bar, before he bent down for my lips again.

I could feel the shock of the event slowly pulling me down from my drunken state and yet, somehow replacing it with another, stronger feeling of being lightheaded and tingly. When his large hands found my hips and squeezed, I gasped, giving him the room he needed to explore my mouth with his tongue. I wasn't surprised that our fiery arsonist was taking this chance to devour me, because that's exactly what fire would do, and that's just who Mick is. He's the fire that lights something in you once he gets his hands on you. I never expected him to restrain himself, to be the person who calms the situation before it gets entirely out of hand.

But to my surprise, I could feel his whole being began to relax and slow his movements. With my eyes closed, I was more aware of how his larger figure began to rest against me as if he was trying to tell me he was tired of it all, as if he needed this moment to just be held. It surprised me even more as his kisses began to slow to soft, gentle pecks. I could feel how bruised my lips probably were from the initial contact, but with each peck of his soft lips, it was like he was trying to mask that moment with something much sweeter, something that made my knees even weaker than before. His lips covered mine once more in a long, soft kiss that had me digging my nails into his shoulders so I could pull him closer. He pressed me so close against him, I had to tilt my head up to keep from losing touch of his lips. His giant arms had engulfed me completely, wrapping around my waist, practically lifting me up off the ground an inch or so.

Then the spots behind my closed eyelids began to get darker and my legs almost gave out before I pulled away, because it wasn't until then that I remembered my lungs need a thing called oxygen, and Mick was pulling all the oxygen I had from my lungs with his kiss.

I sucked in as much air as I could while our lips were separated, feeling my heart slamming against my chest, trying to focus on regaining feeling in my knees. I closed my eyes once more and was glad Mick gave me the time to lean against him and relax.

It was silent between the two of us after that, only the sound of our ragged breathing as we both tried to catch up with what just happened between us. I didn't have the time to register what really just went on, before I heard some commotion on the other side of the hideout.

Mick must have heard it to, releasing me from his grasp to turn and see what was going on. I couldn't see over his tall form and continued to lean back against the bar, already missing how warm and comfortable he was compared to the mildly sticky atmosphere around us.

"Who the hell invited these guys?" Mick growled as my head swung. I didn't hear the response he got or anything after that until Leonard walked forward.

"Looks like it's time to go, Mick."

"Why would we leave?" Mick resumed his spot on the barstool next to me.

"They're going to kill Sara and Rip. Our friends." That got what was left of my hazy attention and I lifted my head to look up at his stiff figure. He stood there, staring at Mick, expecting Mick to follow.

However, the big guy didn't budge. "Our friends? Since when do we have friends?"

Leonard's eyes fell on me just for a brief moment before looking back at Mick with an air of annoyance. "Let's go."

An animalistic growl escaped the man in front of me and to my surprise, he lifted his heat gun at Leonard before stating, "You're not my boss!"

"Actually, I am." Leonard growled back, staring him down with such an icy anger that I caught myself flinching away from the two before putting myself in the middle.

"L-look…" I staggered a bit before putting my hands up. "We've all just had a long day, that's all this is. We need to take a deep breath and-."

Mick sighed, putting his gun down and rolling his eyes. "Let's just go."

I watched them head out the door, a bit surprised at how easy that was before following their lead with wobbly legs.

When we met back up with Sara and Rip, it was in some tiny abandoned warehouse where it looked like they were being ambushed. I was grateful that I had the gloves Rip gave me on as I aimed at the nearest guy and watched him convulse from the electricity that spouted out of my fingers, before he hit the floor, no longer moving. The next guy came running too fast for my blurry vision to compromise and when I tried to aim, I missed and hit some sort of power box nearby, causing a flash of fire and a loud pop to echo through the building.

"Watch it!" Leonard called out before turning back to the fight. Luckily, this gave me enough time to disengage from the fun for a second to throw up behind a pillar.

When I came back, I was surprised to find Leonard, Sara, and Rip standing over some unconscious men. One of those men happened to be Mick.

"What did I miss?" I asked, slurring my words only slightly.

Sara gave an amused smile, "Are you drunk?"

I gasped, slightly offended. "No!" However, I almost tipped over which said otherwise.

Leonard caught my arm before stating, "He'll be fine. Rip and Sara is going to take him back to the ship."

"What about you?"

"Well, someone has to make sure you get back in one piece."

I didn't make it an easy job for Leonard. By time we got back to the ship, I ran to the bathroom to spill some more liquids. Afterwards, I brushed my teeth quite sloppily before Leonard help me to bed.

Once I settled into my covers, he asked, "Good?"

I nodded, my eyes already falling close. "Good."

I could hear the smile in his voice as he said, "Who knew the goodie-two-shoes likes to get wasted?"

"I used to do that a lot." I admitted, although I wasn't sure why I was telling him this. All I knew was that the room was spinning even with my eyes shut and every word that came out of my mouth was the truth. "I drank a lot after Ronnie's death. Don't know why. Didn't really help. But I guess that's what people do when they're sad or angry, they drink… Maybe that's why Mick drinks so much…"

There was a long silence after that. I was convinced he had left the room without me noticing and I was drifting further and further into deep sleep with every passing second. I was almost off to dreamland when I felt something soft brush against my lips. The sweet taste of cool mint was short and sweet, but it was enough to make my fingers tingle. The feeling was cold, but in a good way. Almost as though the sensation was healing every burning, stinging part inside me with a cold wash of water. I wanted so badly too pull the source of the feeling closer and hold it tight, but my body felt like lead and I could no longer move my limbs at free will. So, instead, I let the feeling linger just a tad bit longer before opening my eyes.

Opening my eyes, I came to find that Leonard's face was a lot closer than before, and realization hit me. With a sleepy pout, I said, "Hey, you stole that kiss…"

Leonard shrugged. "It's what us thieves do." And with a final pat to my head, he left the room.

I slept well that night with the innocent dreams of when Ronnie and I used to play on the swings as kids. I could hear his laughter ring through the air and in my sleep, I watched him grow older and fall in love with the red head I became close to later on. I had been so happy for him, glad that he was in such a sweet relationship with someone so kind.

I vaguely remember thinking about how I hoped for the same thing in my future.


End file.
